It's Not Hopeless

Sadly, a relevant and informative article: What to Do in an Active Shooter Situation.

The obvious strategies, in order of priority, are run, hide, and fight.

To increase one's chances of surviving involves a little study, though. Stop invading my safe space while I'm checking my Twitter feed!

The Battle for Seattle

In a contest ignored outside of the airline industry and the State of Washington, Delta and Alaska Airlines are engaged in a fight for market share at the Seattle-Tacoma International (Sea-Tac) Airport.

Alaska, a large profitable Seattle-based regional airline that has somehow escaped absorption by one of the mega-carriers, has perhaps surprisingly held its own against Delta, which views Sea-Tac as its gateway to Asia.

You might guess that the mighty Delta is destined to crush the comparatively tiny Alaska. But so far Alaska has shown remarkable resilience. The company’s stock is up over 30% on the year, outperforming both Delta’s and the S&P 500.

I have flown--and like--both airlines, though I haven't had much occasion to use them recently. It's easy to root for the smaller airline, however, which is one of the remaining few that emphasize customer service. Given a choice of carriers, I will opt for Alaska, even though it might cost a bit more.

ALK (up 484%) has outperformed DAL (up 240%) over the past 5 years. Today both stocks sport similar
 fundamentals: their PE ratios are 14 and the dividend yield is 1%.

Short Conversation Between a Married Couple

The old filter (bottom) still had life, but
one shouldn't be cheap if one has allergies.

The furnace manufacturer recommends that we change the filter every 12 months. The furnace is hidden behind an access door that is a magnet for boxes.

I changed the furnace filter this morning. I had to move some things around the garage.

"I noticed."

I threw out some stuff we don't use and cleaned up the area.

"That's so unlike you."

Sandwiches and Chicken on Sunday

Some of our kids have been helping since they were toddlers.

The sun shone, unlike last year. We served lunch in the garden.

The main dish was baked chicken and rice. My recipe is simple: 10 cups of rice, 10 cups of liquid---two cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup and the rest water, and about 30 drumsticks on top. Cover with foil, and bake for two hours at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

The flavor can be improved by marinating the chicken overnight in soy sauce and garlic, browning the chicken, and adding chopped onions to the rice before baking. Preparation would then take 45 minutes instead of 15, so I don't do this if I'm pressed for time---which often occurs on Sunday morning.

Volunteers baked seven trays of chicken and rice, and, though we had only 50 diners this Thanksgiving weekend, all of it was spoken for. About a third of it was taken home by the diners, along with the brown-bag meals prepared by St.Pius of Redwood City. Some of the clientele really don't know where their next meal is coming from.

We take turns serving Sunday lunches at the community center with four other churches. Our next date will be in January, which will arrive before we know it.

Why I Respectfully Decline

In 2009 the evening commute on the San Mateo Bridge was
congested because the Bay Bridge was closed. In 2015 it's
like this every day (cbs8 photo)

The booming Peninsula economy and limited housing supply have yielded predictable phenomena: skyrocketing home prices and an awful commute.

The five-year jump [in traffic between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.] is 81 percent on the San Mateo Bridge, 61 percent on the Dumbarton and 43 percent on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Because Foster City sits on the nexus between major highways 101 and 92 (the San Mateo Bridge), it's nearly impossible for residents to get into or out of the City in under 30 minutes during rush hour. (Compounding the problem, East-Bay commuters often use our surface streets when the freeways are jammed.)

Last week I spent 30 minutes on the offramp to Foster City in the late afternoon. And so it is on weekdays that I avoid going home between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m., nor do I leave between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

When prospective employers talk to me about 9-5 jobs, I respectfully decline. Life is too short, and commutes are too, too long.

At the Apple Store

Black Friday at the Apple Store: the employees wear red.

Attracted by Black Friday specials, shoppers crowded the stores today.

Apple marched to its own beat.

Though Apple is not promoting Black Friday savings this year, other retailers are advertising their Apple products to lure in shoppers — and boosting Apple's brand in the process.

The main fears about Apple---whether its new iPhones would be well received and whether China's economic slowdown would dampen growth--have been allayed, at least for this year.

Booming iPhone sales have propelled the company to a string of strong results while withstanding a slowdown in the global smartphone market. Apple followed up its first large-screen iPhones with a pair of new releases in late September.

The iPhone continues to do well in China, where it has become a premium brand akin to Prada bags or Rolex watches. As more Chinese consumers enter the middle class with greater disposable income, they are embracing the iPhone.

The term "Black Friday" originated, according to one legend, when merchants reported that the first day of Christmas shopping turned the year profitable, i.e., from "in the red" to "in the black."

Apple, which reported $11.1 billion in net income from the September quarter, doesn't need more Black Friday business at the cost of lower margins. Managing the crowds, employees' overtime, and special pricing are significant expenses with uncertain benefits---perhaps the world's largest company is again starting a trend.

The Food Isn't What Matters

Coated with salt, garlic and spices, it's hard to go wrong

There were no visitors this year; it was an opportune time to be non-traditional. When one contemplates the brining, basting, stuffing, roasting, turning and/or tenting, gravy-making, cutting, cleaning up, and storing---not to mention having to eat leftovers for the next week--a turkey for Thanksgiving seemed less appealing.

The rib roast demanded much less preparation and supervision, though the cooking method was nearly the same: low heat for 4-6 hours, followed by 15-30 minutes of browning at high temperature.

There was one tradition that we stuck with---going around the table and reciting what we were thankful for. The attitude of gratitude has a way of dispelling gloomy conversation.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What to Eat on Thanksgiving Eve

Pho and accompaniments from Little Saigon  (Yelp photo)

Despite going to the local pho restaurant twice a month, this article revealed that I don't know much about the savory Vietnamese noodle dish:

The North/South distinction:

Northern pho is delicate and elegant, the broth more savory than sweet. It is not eaten with basil or bean sprouts or other herbs. Plainness is a virtue. The broth is the thing.

The south evolved its own style, one rooted in its very different cooking traditions....Southerners love their accoutrements: basil, bean sprouts, sawtooth herb, a squeeze of lime, a shot of hoisin, a splash of Sriracha.

American broth is superior to the broth in Vietnam

because meat is more widely available, and that meat is also of a higher quality. More and better meat in the broth....means a more substantial, fuller-bodied soup.

Onion and ginger yes, star anise no:

what [some enthusiasts] love most in a broth are the hits of star anise and cinnamon. According to the experts, they most likely have been weaned on bad pho....charring the onion and grilling the ginger gives the broth both flavor and fragrance.

"Never add a handful of beansprouts before tasting, the experts say."

The sprouts are cold, and the temperature of the soup will drop precipitously.

Blithely ignoring the experts, I slurped up a bowl of beef pho, with bean sprouts, on Wednesday night.

Tomorrow's meal would be heavier, but I doubt it would be tastier.

Chill Tuesday

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is grey
I went for a walk
On a winter's day

I'd be safe and warm
If I was in L.A.
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day

Timetable Delayed

Two years ago we first heard about Palo Alto-based Theranos and its revolutionary blood testing technology. With only a few drops of blood Theranos claimed that its machines could run hundreds of blood tests.

Theranos tests at Walgreens: a fraction of competitors' prices.

Theranos's processes are faster, cheaper and more accurate than the conventional methods and require only microscopic blood volumes, not vial after vial of the stuff.

At the time we said that "It does seem too good to be true", yet why not? Multi-billion dollar businesses that didn't exist 15 years ago have arisen seemingly from nowhere, disrupting entire industries.

In October serious questioning of Theranos' technology began [bold added].

the Wall Street Journal ran a report that Theranos has overstated its technology’s reach and reliability. Theranos has attracted great acclaim because it claims to be able to perform a wide variety of tests by drawing a few drops of blood instead of using a full-sized needle to take larger samples; and because of its promises to make it cheaper and easier for consumers to get blood tests without having to go through a doctor. However, the Journal’s article argued that its tests are not reliable, and revealed that it does only a few tests with its own devices, using other firms’ technology for most of them.

In response to the WSJ article and questions from scientists and regulators founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes says

she would release data proving their machines work—the data academics, clinicians, and doctors have been asking to see for over a year, comparing Theranos’ tests to industry standards.

Your humble observer knows nothing about the science of blood analysis or microfluidics. As a student of human behavior, however, let me make a couple of obvious points about why we latched on to this story so willingly:

(SF Business Times photo)

1) 31-year-old Elizabeth Holmes came along at just the right time to be declared the next Steve Jobs. Her oft-worn black turtleneck cinches the comparison, and the dearth of young, female self-made billionaires made her a rockstar.

2) No patient enjoys the inconvenience and discomfort of drawing blood and the days waiting for results. When Theranos promised to be faster, cheaper, and better, everyone (except competitors) wanted it to be true.

We'll defer judgment until after Elizabeth Holmes releases the information and it has been reviewed by experts. One result is certain: unless she has complete vindication the timetable for the IPO will be delayed.

The Best of Humanity

The Rev. Daniel Simmons, Cynthia Graham Hurd, Ethel Lance, The Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor,
Tywanza Sanders, Myra Thompson, The Rev. Sharonda Singleton, Susie Jackson
and The Rev. Clementa Pinckney (Time photo)

When I feel like patting myself on the back for some modest charitable endeavors, the world reminds me that there is a great distance between ordinary practitioners of faith and those who live and breathe the Word.

On June 17th a declared white supremacist killed nine members of the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church at a Bible Study in Charleston, S.C. Nadine Collier, whose mother, Ethel Lance was one of the victims, said at the bond hearing:

“I couldn’t remember his name,” she recalls of her one-way encounter with the alleged killer. But she remembers that she was “angry, mad” because her mother had “more living to do.” And the killer “took something away from me that was so precious.”

At the same time, racing through her head were lessons she had learned long before: “You have to forgive people and move on,” she says. “When you keep that hatred, it hurts only you.”

“I kept thinking he’s a young man, he’s never going to experience college, be a husband, be a daddy. You have ruined your life,” she recalls thinking.

What she said at the podium, while choking back sobs, came out like this: “I forgive you. You took something very precious away from me. I will never get to talk to her ever again—but I forgive you, and have mercy on your soul … You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people. If God forgives you, I forgive you.”

Forgiveness is more than just saying the words. True forgiveness can be a long and painful process.

Anthony Thompson essentially agreed with Collier’s statement, as far as it went. It was important for him to forgive as quickly as possible so that he could continue to live as God intended. Forgiveness, as he later explains, is like a Band-Aid that holds the edges of an open wound together long enough for the wound to heal. Though he cannot heal what happened to his wife [Myra], nor whatever is wrong with the man who killed her, he must attend to the wound inside himself. “I don’t know what happened in his life, and frankly I don’t want to know,” he says.

Thompson did not want to leave the impression that forgiveness is as simple as speaking three words. For Roof to be forgiven by God, the young man had an awful lot of work to do.

Thompson put it this way, speaking quietly: “I would just like him to know that—to say the same thing that was just said—I forgive him, and my family forgives him. But we would like him to take this opportunity to repent. Repent,” he repeated. “Confess. Give your life to the one who matters most, Christ, so that he can change him. And change your ways, so no matter what happens to you, you’ll be O.K.”

How easy it is for us to advise other people to forgive wrongs, yet how fiercely we hold on to our own memories--and anger--over slights that are but pinpricks in the great scheme.

On this Thanksgiving week I am grateful to the members of the Mother Emanuel AME Church for showing us how to walk a very narrow and difficult path. In their response to the tragedy they have shown the best of humanity.

Reversals of Fortune

From the penthouse to the outhouse:

Friday was the almost-certain end of Colin Kaepernick’s career as a 49er.

On Saturday, the 49ers placed Kaepernick on injured reserve. He reportedly has a torn labrum on his non-throwing shoulder, suffered in Week 4 against Green Bay.

His season is over.

His 49ers career is likely over.

It’s shocking because just three years ago, Kaepernick was considered the prototype for the quarterback of the future. The 49ers locked him up in what appeared to be a long-term deal to give the team stability at the game’s most important position.

Chipotle: the Centers for Disease Control named the restaurant chain as the probable source for a spate of E.coli.

Chipotle's reputation for clean food is in tatters. Restaurant owners, you never want to see your name and E.coli in the same sentence.

From worst to first:

Microsoft and security:

Microsoft was once the epitome of everything wrong with security in technology...“They’ve changed themselves from worst in class to the best in class,” [Finnish researcher Mikko] Hypponen said. “The change is complete. They started taking security very seriously.”

Clichés that may apply to these reversals of fortune:

What have you done for us lately?

Anything's possible.

People have short memories.

History is bunk.

Dropping Off the Supplies on a Friday Morning

We brought the gift cards and food boxes to CALL Primrose when it opened at 9 a.m.

Activity was already starting to pick up; three people were waiting in line for groceries. One of the volunteers helped us unload the car. The office appeared better organized than on previous drop-offs. Bill showed me the upstairs storage room, which was stacked to the ceiling with donated food.

Never again will I lament my own difficulties with inventory.

Counting the Cans

Imbalance: 2 muffin mixes needed, while we had excess
pasta, cans of tomatoes, and stuffing

Thanksgiving is next week, which meant it was time to drop off food at CALL Primrose. Our church had signed up for four boxes, each containing sixteen (16) specified items. I took inventory; we were short a couple of packages of corn-muffin mix, which were purchased with five $20 gift cards on a trip to Safeway.

Shopping is easy. Inventory is hard.

Inventory for your humble accountant always has been one of the most challenging, if mundane areas of accounting. Whether there's a computerized or handwritten list, it always has to be checked against the physical inventory.

Shortfalls occur because of mistakes, defalcation, or shrinkage. (Too bad shrinkage in other areas can't be remedied by a trip to Safeway.)

In the Nick of Time

An app whose time has come: StoryCorps.

StoryCorps is working with high school teachers across the country to ask students to interview a grandparent or elder over the 2015 Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Using the new free StoryCorps mobile app, participants will be able to upload their recordings to the StoryCorps archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. In one holiday weekend we will capture an entire generation of American lives and experiences.

It's not a requirement that the maximum-40-minute conversation be uploaded to the Library of Congress. The interviewer can keep it for herself and/or edit it before uploading.

The app is easy to use, and barriers come down quickly because a camera isn't stuck in the subject's face.

There’s something about the presence of a microphone in a StoryCorps session that changes the dynamic between two people. It’s a license to say things that wouldn’t normally come up, and ask questions you don’t usually get to ask.....The generation that might not want to broadcast every whim on Facebook doesn’t necessarily have a problem sharing deeper knowledge. “We all want to know we are not going to be forgotten and that our lives matter.”

Most of us regret not being able to hear again the voices of those who were precious to us.

This Thanksgiving we have an opportunity not to add to those regrets.